Anti-immigrant sentiment has found a home in political platforms across the nation and on both sides of the aisle. One such politician is Wisconsin Governor and 2016 Republican candidate Scott Walker. Walker is, like his peers, an absolute disaster in nearly every respect. In typical Republican form, Walker cries out that “government is too big” while simultaneously supporting “right-to-work” laws, bans on abortions after twenty weeks, and a massive federal immigration apparatus.

As detestable as some of these other viewpoints are, his stance on trans-national migration evinces an even more pronounced conflict between his self-professed love of liberty. Not only does Walker advocate traditional Republican nativist busybodism – a border fence, national ID system, substantially increased ICE presence – he actually agrees with Trump that the federal government should restrict legal immigration during times of economic hardship. He claimed in an interview with Glenn Beck that American immigration policy should be directed toward “protecting American workers and American wages”. Unflinching nationalistic populism like this would make a great deal of sense coming from Bernie Sanders, but an anti-labor conservative professing to be interested in protecting American workers and wages is almost certainly Walker’s rhetorical attempt to whitewash his corporatist intent.